Han Du hesitated for a moment, originally thinking that since Lao Zhu agreed, he could completely solve this problem, but he did not expect that he would be taught a lesson by Lao Zhu.
Seeing that Han Du hesitated to speak, Lao Zhu turned his head to look at Han Du, frowned, and a voice came out of his nose, "Huh? What, are you not satisfied?"
"No!" Han Du suddenly came back to his senses and saw Lao Zhu looking a little unhappy. I thought it would be better to have a thousand birds in the forest than to have one in my hand. Being able to solve the problem at hand means that the work was not in vain.
Judging from what Lao Zhu meant, if he hesitated any longer, he might even lose the little thing in front of him.
"The emperor is clear about rewards and punishments, and I admire him very much." Han Du's brisk and joyful voice soon echoed in the spacious hall.
After receiving Han Du's affirmative answer, Lao Zhu clicked his fingers with satisfaction and asked Han Du to step back.
...
After a whole day of excitement at the Wanshou Festival in the palace, everything returned to normal the next day, and even the huge stage seemed to have never appeared.
There is no way, Lao Zhu is so picky and only gives officials three days of vacation throughout the year. They are, Wanshou Festival, Winter Solstice and New Year. Three holidays, one day off.
Not to mention the capitalists who will shed tears after hearing this, I am afraid that even the ancestors of the capitalists and the robbers will shed tears after hearing this.
However, although the officials' festival is gone and the daily midnight has returned, the excitement among the people has not faded away all of a sudden.
Moreover, this year's Longevity Festival is so special. There are so many novelties that it would be strange if people don't talk about it after dinner.
Since Han Du handed over the errand to Lao Zhu, he has been hiding in the racecourse that is about to be repaired all day long.
On this day, Han Du and An Qing were riding horses and walking side by side.
After the horse breeding place was built, Han Du asked Tang Ding to get him a batch of good horses. Anyway, during the Northern Expedition, it was no big deal to seize so many war horses and get dozens or hundreds of them out.
Anqing, because Han Du often goes to the racecourse, she will also come here for a walk.
Today happened to be here, so Han Du rode a horse to accompany her for a walk.
An Qing is not short. From a modern perspective, he is almost 1.7 meters tall, only less than ten centimeters shorter than Han Du. He has good facial features and had a hint of heroism before marrying Han Du. Coupled with her status as the Ming Dynasty Princess, it is extremely easy for people to feel unattainable and majestic.
But since giving birth to her son, the heroic spirit on An Qing's face has disappeared, and it has become more feminine and maternal. This not only does not destroy her beauty at all, but also adds a layer of feminine charm.
Especially her exquisite figure. When Han Du's eyes fell on her voluptuous waist on horseback, he felt a burning sensation in his lower abdomen. He secretly swallowed his saliva and did not dare to look more.
Horse riding is also a sport. After riding for a long time, a fine, crystal-clear bead of sweat appeared on An Qing's forehead.
After tightening the reins, An Qing took a few uncomfortable breaths, raised his hand and gently wiped his forehead with a silk handkerchief, looked sideways at Han Du, and complained unhappily: "Are we going to continue riding? I’m a little tired.”
"Come down for a walk when you are tired from riding." Han Du got off the horse first, and then went to pick An Qing off.
Although An Qing was already immune to Han Du's various little tricks on weekdays, if he was in their courtyard in the house, he would feel close to Han Du at any time, except for the beautiful happiness, and he would have no other feelings.
But it was in broad daylight here, and An Qing's face turned red from shyness. Fortunately, because he was riding a horse, he was already a little red, so Han Du didn't notice any difference.
"You, let me down, I will go by myself..." An Qing struggled twice in Han Du's arms.
Han Du came to his senses and quickly put her down.
The two of them led the horses and walked on the grass where the morning dew had not yet dried. They didn't care even if their boots got wet with dew.
After walking a few steps, An Qing returned to normal. He looked up at Han Du and asked, "My husband said this racecourse can make money, but why can't I see it? I've been here many times, but I haven't seen where I can make money." .”
An Qing shook his head without concealing it and asked his doubts.
Han Du glanced at her with a smile, as if he had already guessed that An Qing would ask this question, and replied lightly: "Originally, we thought you would ask it a long time ago, but we didn't expect you to be able to hold back until now."
An Qing was stunned for a moment, but then he did not open his mouth to continue asking Han Du. Instead, he looked at Han Du with flashing eyes, waiting for his explanation.
Han Du laughed twice and said to An Qingpu: "Business is not just about buying high and selling low to earn the difference."
"What else is there?" The more Anqing listened, the more strange he became. Since ancient times, hasn't making money in business been about buying high and selling low, and making a profit from the price difference?
An Qing obviously didn't believe Han Du's words, and said, "My father once said that merchants do not engage in production, grow food, or weave cloth, and just rely on hoarding goods to live in strange places, which is of no benefit to the world."
Han Du did not refute An Qing, but nodded and said: "If it is this kind of hoarding of goods that causes natural and man-made disasters and national disasters, it is not only useless to the world, but also harmful and extremely harmful."
Seeing An Qing, he was about to ask. Han Du guessed what she wanted to ask and explained directly: "But although these people are businessmen, these are not the only businessmen in the world. Take briquettes as an example. Some people use briquettes as an example. Buying it, transporting it to the capital and selling it, and making some money from it, is completely okay in our opinion. It seems that a piece of briquettes has not changed at all from the workshop to the hands of the people in the capital. But don’t forget, Without these traders, these briquettes would not have been directly available to the people.
People need briquettes for cooking. If there is no one to sell them, can they still go to the workshops to buy them directly? "
"They're both buying. What's the difference between buying from a vendor and buying in a workshop?" An Qing was confused by Han Du's words and couldn't figure it out for a moment.
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Du stopped, turned sideways to face Anqing, and said solemnly: "Of course it's different. If all the people buy briquettes by themselves, there won't be such a big place for the workshop. If it can face the people of the entire capital at the same time, the workshop will be overwhelmed. It’s packed.”
An Qing was stunned for a moment, and then the scene described by Han Du appeared in his mind. He couldn't help laughing, and shook his head without refuting Han Du.
Indeed, how many people are there in the entire capital? If everyone rushes to buy briquettes by themselves, it will probably be overcrowded.
"Also, many people think that merchants just buy goods from here, and there is no change in the goods. They roughly think that merchants have no contribution. This is wrong." Han Du smiled and shook his head.
"However, there is indeed no change in the goods." An Qing was confused.
Han Du signaled An Qing to continue walking, and then said softly to her: "Although the goods have not changed, the location of the goods has changed."
After a pause, he continued to explain: "Let's put it this way, farmers work hard every day for a year's harvest. And businessmen also run around every day. If they run around for a year, shouldn't they also have a harvest? ?”
An Qing seemed to understand, but seemed confused.
"If we think of merchants selling goods as farmers growing crops, would it be understandable?" Han Du guided An Qing's thinking.
After listening to this, An Qing seemed to have some enlightenment and nodded slowly. Then she asked again: "But what does this have to do with our racecourse? This racecourse doesn't have any goods."
Han Du laughed twice and explained: "This is what my husband wants to tell you. Business in the world is not just about selling goods. Real business can sell anything, including ideas, popularity, personality, and anxiety. , expectations, etc., are all businesses and can be bought and sold. Even lifestyles, habits, etc. can also be bought and sold."
An Qing was stunned when she heard this. It was difficult for her to understand what Han Du said. Although she knew every word Han Du said, she had no idea what Han Du was talking about when put together.
"Let me ask you, how does our horse farm make money?" An Qing was a little annoyed and acted like a little woman. She doesn't care about money, although three hundred thousand yuan is a huge sum of money for anyone. But as long as Han Du makes a decision, even if she doesn't understand it, she won't object.
Han Du thought An Qing was feeling sorry for the 300,000 yuan, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry, as long as our racecourse starts to open, we will make it back in a short time."
"As for how to make money?" Han Du pondered for a moment, raised his finger and pointed to a part of the racecourse and said, "Did you see that? That's where we plan to use for horse racing."
An Qing glanced in the direction Han Du pointed, then withdrew his gaze and asked doubtfully: "Horse racing? Can this make money?"
"Of course!" Thinking of horse racing, Han Du couldn't help but get excited and rubbed his palms.
"You know the gambling houses in the capital, right? This horse racing, also called horse racing, is somewhat similar to betting on dice, but it is much more interesting than betting on dice."
"Have you seen those laps of the track? There will be dozens of horses galloping on it. The horse that completes a certain number of laps first will be considered the winner. And before the horse racing starts, people You can bet on the horse you like, and once the horse wins, you can win back a certain amount of money."
"Can you make money like this?" An Qing didn't believe it. It is indeed a lot more fun to win money by betting on the winning horse. But if the winner takes away the money, how can the racecourse still make money?
"Have you ever heard of gambling houses in the capital closing down? Which ones are not making money every day." Han Du has full confidence in people's gambling nature, and he is not targeting ordinary people, but those who are extremely rich. wealthy businessmen, and nobles who regard money as dirt.
This is really not a joke by Han Du. Civil servants who keep talking about integrity and ask others to treat money as dirt are precisely the people who care about money the most. On the contrary, arrogant generals who are looked down upon by civil servants do not value money very much. What they value is military merit.
"I've heard of it." An Qing nodded sincerely, looked up at Han Du and said in confusion: "Didn't the students of the academy force many gambling houses to close down?"
Han Du was speechless immediately, smiled flatteringly, and reluctantly explained: "That's another wish. Even after this incident, isn't the gambling house very prosperous now?"
An Qing nodded, this is correct.
"Don't worry, our horse farm will not only not lose money, but will make a lot of money." Han Du felt that it was very difficult to explain to An Qing, and he quickly wanted to stop talking.
An Qing was tired of hearing this and didn't want to pay attention to these things anymore. She believed in Han Du anyway. Since Han Du said he could make money, there would be no problem.
...
The horse racing venue had just been built and could barely be used. Han Du couldn't wait to prepare for the opening and couldn't wait until the racecourse was completely built.
Sitting behind the long desk, I personally wrote the invitations, hoping to invite a few close friends to visit the opening ceremony of my racecourse. There are a set of strict rules for formal invitations between honorable nobles, such as this invitation. This invitation must be written personally by Han Du, the head of the Zhenhai Hou Mansion, to reflect the sincerity of the Zhenhai Hou Mansion. If Han Du hadn't written it himself, it would have been regarded by others as the Zhenhai Houfu's self-promotion, looking down on them, and humiliating them.
The Duke of Xin Tang He, the Duke of Ying Fu Youde, the Duke of Liang Lan Yu, the Marquis of Jingchuan Cao Zhen, the Marquis of Dingyuan Wang Bi, the Marquis of Heqing Zhang Yi, and the Marquis of Kuang Yi Xu Chengfei. As for Tang Ding, he has not separated from Tang He now, so there is no need to invite him separately.
Even to other nobles, Han Du has to send invitations one by one. Unless they have a life-and-death grudge, they don't have to send them. As for whether they will come, that is another matter. Han Du sent the invitation to show that he told them that he did not mean to be arrogant or take them seriously.
Of course, usually, even if these people cannot come in person, they will send a butler to give a gift in return. Of course, please
When the stone sinks into the sea. As long as this situation occurs once in that house, then this house will no longer need to send you. They have no intention of moving around with you at all, and they don't even make superficial efforts.
On the opening day, Han Du took his whole family to the racecourse early and asked An Qing to arrange for his parents and Han Shu to enter. He waited at the gate for everyone to arrive.
The first person to arrive was Xu Chengfei, riding a horse, followed by several people. Before he came to Han Du, he got off his horse in advance, threw the reins to the servant aside, and walked towards Han Du with a big smile.
When Han Du saw it, he quickly took the initiative to greet him and said with a smile: "Brother Xu, why are you so polite? We are all brothers who share the same hardships, why do we need to pay such a big courtesy."
Xu Chengfei laughed a few times, put aside Han Du's topic, stepped aside, and revealed the person behind him.
He stretched out his hand towards Han Du, turned around and said to this person: "This is the Marquis of Zhenhai. My cousin has been in the capital for many years, so he should have heard of his famous name."
Then he looked back at Han Du, raised his finger and pointed at this person, and introduced to Han Du: "This is our cousin, Xu Xin. He has studied in a private school for several years. Although he has not been admitted to the imperial examination, he can still be said to be good. I can write. I used to be in the capital, helping others write family letters to support my family, but now I am our housekeeper."
Han Du nodded and looked at this person carefully. Xu Chengfei's native cousin's figure is exactly the opposite of Xu Chengfei's. He looks short and thin, but he really has the posture of a scholar who has no strength to restrain a chicken. He has bright eyes and is obviously a man of quick thinking. Always look at people with a smile on your face, which makes it easy for others to like you.
When they first met, Han Du also had a good impression of him. After all, you can't hit someone with a smiling face.
Xu Xin suddenly became excited and hurriedly came forward to pay homage: "The reputation of Marquis Zhenhai is as loud as a thunder in my ears. It's better to meet him today than to meet him. I am so lucky in my lifetime!"
As expected, Xu Xin earned his living by writing family letters to others. He was impeccable in his dealings with others, and his attitude towards Han Du was sincere, and there was no trace of fraud at all.
"Steward Xu, nice to meet you." Han Du nodded and met Xu Xin.
"Where, where, the Marquis has promoted the young man." Xu Xin bowed respectfully to Han Du again, then took a step back, returned to the position behind Xu Chengfei, and stood quietly without speaking.
Xu Xin went forward to meet Han Du, and Xu Xin performed all the etiquette. He stepped back and stood behind Xu Chengfei, looking like he was only following Xu Chengfei's lead, and he had a clear understanding of his own identity.
Xu Chengfei turned around and said to Xu Xin: "Since my cousin knows Marquis Zhenhai, in the future when Marquis Zhenhai comes to see us, he can directly let Marquis Zhenhai enter the mansion without having to report."
"Yes, Lord Marquis." Xu Xin bowed and agreed.
Then, Xu Chengfei waved his hand and signaled to Xu Xin: "Please present the gift list."
Naturally, the person next to Han Du will be responsible for the gift list, so Han Du doesn't have to worry about it. Otherwise, if he is a dignified prince, but he goes to accept gifts from others, will he lose his identity?
Han Du laughed twice, happily stepped forward to hold Xu Chengfei's hand, and said, "We are very happy if you come here to show your respect. What else can you bring? Come on, let's talk inside."
"please!"
After Han Du settled Xu Chengfei, he hurriedly came out to prepare for the next arriving noble.
Tang and Tang Ding came hand in hand, and Lan Yu also came not long after. Next, the people who came became more dense. Cao Zhen, Zhang Yi, Wang Bi and others came one by one. Fu Youde also came after these people.
To Han Du's surprise, Cao Xing, the Marquis of Huaiyuan, Zhang Wen, the Marquis of Huining, Chen Huan, the Marquis of Puding, and Sun Ke, the Marquis of Quaning, also came in person.
Other nobles who did not come in person also sent butlers to send back gifts.
Just when Han Du estimated that it was almost time and no one would come anymore, Zhu Biao came with a group of people beaming.
Han Du was shocked when he saw it, and quickly stepped forward to greet him.
"I, Han Du, pay homage to His Highness the Crown Prince. I am late to greet you. Please forgive me."
"Hmph, you are indeed late. No one was sent to inform Gu Yiyi of such a big matter." Although Zhu Biao's tone was not kind, the smile on his face did not weaken at all, obviously he was teasing Han Du.
Han Du was embarrassed when he heard this. He had not planned to invite Zhu Biao, but he did not expect that he would take the initiative after hearing the news. The reason why Zhu Biao is not invited is because sooner or later this racecourse will become a place for enjoyment. If he invites Zhu Biao, then everyone will definitely know what kind of place the racecourse is.
At that time, if Lao Zhu feels that he has corrupted Zhu Biao and failed to lead him in a good direction, what should he do if he wants to settle accounts with himself?
"Your Highness, you don't know. This racecourse is also a place for wanton pleasure. Naturally, I can't invite Your Highness to come." Han Du explained with a flattering look.
How could this be a place of pleasure? Shouldn't the place of enjoyment be Jiaofangsi and those brothels?
Zhu Biao raised his eyes and glanced around. There was no place in this wilderness that looked like a place of enjoyment.
"Stop talking nonsense, do you want to drive me out now that I'm here?"
"I don't dare, I don't dare. Your Highness can come, and I cannot ask for it. Your Highness please come first!" Han Du stepped aside and extended his hand to signal Zhu Biao to come in.
Arriving at the highest loft, you have a commanding view of the entire racecourse. There is also a large viewing platform here, which is perfect for watching horse racing.
When Zhu Biao entered, Tang He took the lead and stood up, and everyone bowed to Zhu Biao.
"My lord, please pay homage to His Highness the Crown Prince..."
"No courtesy, no courtesy." Zhu Biao smiled and gave a little help to everyone.
"Thank you, Your Highness..." After receiving Zhu Biao's signal, everyone stood up.
In order to dispel everyone's concerns, Zhu Biao even said: "There are no princes or princes here today. Since you are all here by invitation, you can have fun."
"I miss you so much, Your Highness..." Everyone replied with a smile.
Zhu Biao is kind and has no airs in front of everyone, which naturally makes everyone feel much more comfortable.
